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Dante and Virgil Meeting the Shades of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo
Ary Scheffer (Dutch, 1795–1858)
1851
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Framed: 45.5 x 53 x 7.5 cm (17 15/16 x 20 7/8 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 24.7 x 33.2 cm (9 3/4 x 13 1/16 in.)
- Culture
- Netherlands
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Based on The Divine Comedy, Dante's epic poem of the 1300s, this painting depicts Dante and the ancient Roman poet Virgil encountering the souls of Paolo and Francesca on a visit to Hell. Although in love with Paolo, Francesca was forced to marry his deformed brother for political reasons. When the jilted husband discovered the lovers embracing, he murdered them, apparently consigning them to Hell due to their adulterous affair.
